Transplant orders are ready for pickup this week! If you’ve purchased anything from raspberries to a garden pack you should be at the farm picking them up from 10-noon this Saturday May 9.
It's been a long, easy couple months for our transplants. Systems in our community propagation greenhouse have never been running more smoothly. Not to say they’re perfect, but after years of trial and error we’re at least in a good pattern. The HVAC systems seem to agree with each other, the water turns on when its supposed to (and turns off…), and our table rental system works well for individuals and larger gardens alike.
Brittney does most of our transplant management, and most of the greenhouse management as a whole. If you have rented space in the community greenhouse she has been responsible for your plants' good health. If you have purchased transplants from us, her care has brought those plants along from seed to little pot to bigger pot and finally to you.
Whether you’ve already started planting this season, or will be picking up this saturday for the first time here’s a few keys to success
Water: This is kind of an obvious one, but watering is absolutely key both for producing transplants and for setting them out into your bed.
You want to make sure that while they are in their pots they get enough water that it soaks into 100% of the soil in the pot. Water should leak out the bottom when you’re finished. But after you water them, let the soil surface fully dry out before watering them again. Usually this should be no more than once or twice a day.
When you plant them out, make sure they go into moist soil, and then make sure you water them well after they are planted. Water the soil, not the plant. Many plants like tomatoes, squash, and other warm-weather crops dont appreciate the cold water splashing on their leaves and even in the case of cool weather plants like kale and broccoli, the water can be too strong for their smaller stems. Just water the soil around the plant thoroughly.
Water regularly for a few weeks so that the soil in your bed about 1” deep stays moist. After that the roots will be deep enough that you only need to make sure it gets water about once a week.
Planting:
Make a small hole with your hands or a trowel.
Place your plant in the hole. The surface of the transplant block should be at about the same height or just slightly below the surface of the soil around it.
Press firmly with both hands around the base of the plant and then gently water. The combination of firming the soil and watering helps the roots of the plant make good contact with the soil in its new bed. Roots dont like to grow across air spaces between the soil block and the surrounding soil so this firm pressure with your hands around the plant is key.
Temperature: Different plants like different temperatures. Broccoli would prefer to stay in the 50s and 60s all year, tomatoes would be good with 80 degrees forever. You cant provide the perfect temperatures but you can make sure you dont plant too early or too late.
Cool weather crops like most greens, shoots, stems, leaves should go out as soon as there is little to no danger of frost. After this Friday you should be in the clear.
Warm-weather crops that produce a fruit like tomatoes, squash, and peppers can go out as soon as the nighttime temperatures are regularly above 45. Sometime mid-next week looks promising.
Stress: Like people, a plant's formative years, their adolescence in the greenhouse needs to be healthy and happy so that they are prepared to face the challenges of life. These plants are strong and vigorous and should take some upsets. Plants, like people, can handle some stress. A dropped transplant, a plant that gets too cold, too much water, not enough water: don't worry, they’ll pull through. Where you start running into problems is cumulative stressors. The act of transplanting itself is a stressor. Poor watering or cold temperatures are stressors. When you start to add up shock after shock, your plants might not make it. So dont worry about a mistake here and there, but try to be cognizant of the plant's comfort and they will reward you by pulling through most ups and downs.
Unfortunately, our summer squash and winter squash transplants due have some leaf spots due to a brief battle with powdery mildew. If any of your plants fail to perform despite your best efforts please contact us and we will happily replace them for you.
